


Paint Me Golden

by fanfictiongreenirises



Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [23]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed, Soft burn, this entire thing is just...soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25070305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises
Summary: "It’d been Barbara’s idea, really. All normal, civilian ideas typically came from Barbara. And there was nothing quite as mundane as going on a road trip, and camping for a couple nights, all for the sake of a nice, long drive, and living for a few days in the wilderness."All roads leadhere.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain
Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622032
Comments: 8
Kudos: 85





	Paint Me Golden

**Author's Note:**

> For the "Road Trip" square on my Batman Bingo card! 
> 
> This is the first slash story I've written in well over a year + the first time I'm writing Steph/Cass + the first time I've spent this much time writing Steph, so let me know how I went ^~^ Characterisations and their relationship are all based off of the first few volumes of Batgirl (2000) and all of Steph's appearances in Robin (1993) (so no I haven't gotten to Cass' reaction of Steph's death in my reading, etc. but I do reference it very vaguely at one point because technically this is set after all that). 
> 
> Title inspired by/from Dancing With Our Hands Tied by Taylor Swift
> 
> Disclaimer: don't own DC or either of these lovely fictional humans

THIS FANFICTION IS HOSTED ON **ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN** , WHERE YOU CAN READ IT FOR **FREE**. IF YOU’RE READING THIS ON A DIFFERENT WEBSITE, IT WAS POSTED THERE **WITHOUT** THE AUTHOR’S CONSENT.

“Ready to go?”

Cass smiled.

* * *

It’d been Barbara’s idea, really. All normal, civilian ideas typically came from Barbara. And there was nothing quite as mundane as going on a road trip, and camping for a couple nights, all for the sake of a nice, long drive, and living for a few days in the wilderness.

The fact that Bruce hadn’t said a word against it – even _liked_ the idea – meant that either Barbara had gotten to him, or he thought they would be training for the great outdoors. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Steph knew that Bruce would’ve given her his best frowning face and disapproving eyes if she’d gone with anyone else. But he trusted Cass in a way he trusted none of his other children, to the point where he often overestimated her abilities to cope and adapt. Knowing that Cass would be there with her meant that any destination was okay, any activity suddenly fine.

She’d be rankled if she didn’t also have the same trust in her friend.

“Where to?” Steph was manning the map, because it was much easier to find a camping spot on a giant paper map instead of the tiny GPS screen.

“Dick said to keep going until we get tired and then find a spot,” Cass told her.

Steph wrinkled her nose. “That sounds like terrible advice. What if there’s no petrol station nearby? Or the nearest camping spot is like another hour away?”

Cass shrugged. Her face had that smile that Steph loved; it was distantly funny to her that she still reacted the same way she had the first time she'd seen it aimed at her. “We have the… cannister. It’ll be fun.”

Steph shrugged. “Okay, then,” she said, leaning back against the seat and propping her feet up onto the dashboard. “Adventurous you is fun. I like her.”

Cass let out a huff of laughter. She tapped the case of CDs they’d brought. “Pick.”

Steph flicked through the box, wrinkling her nose at _The Clash_ before finally coming to an album that was worthy enough to be the soundtrack to their road trip. 

* * *

It was strange, to be out on the road with a whole week in front of them to do absolutely nothing. They’d brought along masks and weapons, but not their costumes. It was meant to be a strictly vacation trip; the masks were just precautions, because none of them could remember the last holiday they’d had that hadn’t been interrupted by some disaster or other.

There was a packet of chips between the two of them, two giant slushies in the drink holders. In the back, there were two eskies worth of drinks and snacks; they had a few sandwiches for the initial drive, and after that, it was either hunting animals for meat or finding a convenience store.

They both knew which one it would be, because neither of them had agreed to skin a rabbit. And neither of them had brought seasonings and spices along with them.

The sun was hitting Steph’s deep brown skin where her arm rested on the window, fingers tapping away to the song. They’d changed the soft rock channel to something upbeat and pop, and with all the sugar in their system, it was a wonder Cass was still sitting still.

“Wanna swap?” Steph asked lazily.

She turned her head to look at her friend, who had one hand on the steering wheel and the other hanging out the window.

“Nah,” Cass said, eyes flicking to Steph for a moment. “I like it.”

“I know what you mean.” Steph yawned. The warmth and atmosphere were making her brain think it was okay to nap every five minutes, despite the buzzing in her veins. “So much nicer than driving in _Gotham_.”

Cass hummed in agreement. “Would’ve passed my exam the first time if it was on a highway.”

Steph banged her head lightly on the window in a physical effort to remove the memories. “Don’t remind me about driving tests. I still stand by the examiner being a bitch.”

Cass laughed. “He passed _me_ on the first go.”

“He failed Tim five times,” Steph countered. “But to be fair, so would I.”

Tim’s driving was horrific, the result of a childhood spent driving as a vigilante with no regard for road rules. That, and Tim’s penchant for his mind wandering when it was supposed to be focusing on the road.

“It’s a wonder that kid passed at all.”

“Probably Bruce’s influence.” It was an ongoing joke in the family by this point, much to Tim’s annoyance.

Steph had heard those words a thousand times, but she still snorted a laugh.

* * *

“You look _fine_. And I’ll be the only one who sees it, anyway.”

Cass tilted a head at her. “It’s not going on Snapchat or Insta?”

Steph shook her head, eyes still on their reflected selves on her phone. “Nope. Just my phone background. Won’t even show it to Babs or the others if you don’t like it.”

“Alright.”

Steph’s phone made a _click_ , and she smiled at the result. “Yeah?”

Cass looked almost surprised at how well the photo had turned out, the two of them sitting atop the roof of the car they’d hired specifically for this trip, flannel shirts and hair moustaches with the mountains in the background.

“Better than you expected, right?” Steph grinned. “Tim’s showed me a thing or two. It’s all about the angle. And the lighting.” She frowned. “Actually, it’s about a lot of things, but the fact that you’re photogenic as fuck makes it work without anything much.”

Cass shoved her lightly, making Steph yelp as she slid sideways on the car roof. “I’m not the only photogenic one.”

Steph hid the pounding of her heart with a smooth smirk she’d picked up from Dinah, and said, “Then you’ll have no problems with me taking more, right?”

* * *

America was probably about ninety percent roadside diners, but they all seemed to disappear the second one of them found herself hungry. Cass pulled up outside a McDonald’s, of all places.

“Didn’t even know you _had_ these all the way out wherever the fuck we are,” Steph muttered as she stretched.

Cass shrugged. “I’ve accepted that they’re a staple of life.”

“Do you have your wallet? I think mine’s in the back.”

Cass waved her _Angry Birds_ themed purse, the one that she’d gotten as a gag gift but still continued using just to horrify whoever she was with.

The inside of the McDonald’s was just like the one in Gotham; if Steph pretended hard enough, she could convince herself they were back home.

“Get a Happy Meal and one of those burgers with the two patties for me?” Cass said, handing her purse to Steph. “Gotta go bathroom.”

“What toy do you want, though?” Steph called after her.

Cass didn’t respond, already behind the swinging door, and Steph sighed, looking at the display above. Steph now had to contemplate whether Cass would prefer a minion or a muscly dinosaur or…

“Here,” she said, sliding Cass’ food towards her when she emerged. She didn’t mention how the waitress at the counter had asked her whether her girlfriend would like a leftover _Polly Pocket_ toy from the previous batch.

Cass opened the Happy Meal box first, poking her head into it with single-minded focus. Steph hid a smile by sucking through the straw of her milkshake.

“Why,” Cass said flatly, pulling out a Furby.

Steph swallowed down the mouthful of milkshake so she wouldn’t spit it out. “I thought you’d like it,” she said. “Can you really tell me you’d prefer a minion?”

* * *

“I thought I’d hate having nothing to do,” Cass said. “But this isn’t… _bad_.”

Steph snorted. “I know, right.”

“It was different, at first,” Cass continued. “I didn’t like not fulfilling my 'purpose'. I didn’t like the thought of just… _existing._ Barbara tried, a _lot_ , but I didn’t let her. _”_

Steph glanced at her. “Maybe it’s all part of growing up. Maybe it’s the life. You learn to value the parts you’re missing because suddenly the stuff you _do_ have isn’t always that great. It was different when you started out. This was all new to you then, too.”

“Maybe,” Cass allowed. But she gave Steph that same look she’d give Steph when Cass would wake after nightmares, and Steph suddenly didn’t want her friend to continue down the trail of thought she knew she was on. This trip was about forgetting the shitty parts of their life for a week.

Steph was at the wheel this time. Cass had driven much more than her share, and Steph was determined to get her amount of empty American backroad driving. Who knew when they’d take a trip like this again?

“I hate no hot water, though,” Cass commented mildly, changing the subject. She examined her nails as she waited for Steph to get the hint. “I miss my shower.”

Steph laughed. “It’s been like three days and you’re already caving. You can look up motels to stay in, seeing how you’re riding shotgun.”

“We can turn off at the nearest exit when we get tired.”

“Or run out of fuel.” Steph glanced at the fuel gauge with a frown. They’d probably need to stop sooner rather than later.

“Or that.”

“Hey, we still got those liquorice sticks?”

“Of course we do. You’re the only one who likes black liquorice.”

* * *

The motel they ended up pulling up at was one of the shadiest places Steph had ever been to, and that was really saying something, considering the sorts of places she’d been to.

“Are you sure there’s nowhere else?”

Cass shot her an amused look. “Why’re you whispering? We’re still in the car.”

“When we get back, we need to get more horror movies in you,” Steph hissed, scanning the parking lot and daunting entrances. “You aren’t nearly as paranoid as you should be.”

“We can take a serial killer,” Cass told her. “We even have reception here.”

“But can we take a _ghost?”_

“You’ve watched too _many_ horror movies,” Cass said, opening her door and sliding out. “You should watch more Scooby-Doo.”

She stretched her arms up with a groan, spine curving backwards beyond what the average human could reach. Steph looked away when her shirt and jacket rode up, revealing a sliver of Cass’ torso.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen Cass in much, _much_ less. There was just something different about being here, alone with each other, that brought things that Steph could normally ignore right to the front of her mind.

Cass rapped on her window. “Coming?” she said. One of her thumbs was tucked in the pocket of her jeans; what had started off as trying to teach Cass to move more like the average teenager than an ex-assassin pretending to be a teenager had become a part of her.

Steph opened her door, echoing Cass’ movements. “Can’t let you get murdered alone, right.”

Cass’ eyes rolled to the sky as she led the way to the motel reception.

There was only one other car in the parking lot, which didn’t help ease Steph’s nerves. That, and the fact that the neon sign indicating that there were vacancies was the only thing lighting their way, made her itch for even a switchblade, perhaps a warding spell or two.

Something brushed against her hand and Steph jumped.

Cass glanced at her, before lacing her hand with Steph’s properly. A million thoughts flashed through Steph’s mind, the least of them being _God I hope my hand isn’t sweaty_. She hoped her grip was the right amount of tight.

The woman at the counter barely glanced up from her phone when Steph and Cass walked in, the bell that rang as they opened the door loud and jarring in the silence.

“Hi,” Steph said, voice bubbly. She tried her best not to look at the antique doll collection. “Lovely night. Can we get a room with two queens?”

“Sorry,” the lady said, not sounding sorry at all. She was old, grey hair in a tight bun and an apron. She was probably a grandma type in a parallel universe, Steph figured. “Only one room available.”

“We’ll take it,” Cass said before Steph could reply. Probably because she knew Steph would say _no thanks_ and leave, like a normal person. Or question the lack of cars in the parking lot, at the very least.

Steph shot Cass a pouted look, trying to indicate to her that she’d rather be sleeping in the car with no water at all, because waking up grimy and having to stay that way for another day or so beat being murdered as a plot device in what was no doubt someone else’s horror story.

There was a tiny animated bear on the keychain as Cass turned the key in the lock of Room 7. When the door swung open, Steph’s eyebrows rose.

“Huh,” was all she could say.

Cass snorted. “What did you expect?” she asked, stepping inside and placing her duffle bag down.

“Honestly?”

“You’re always honest.”

“Eh.” Steph set her own bag down, placing their other bag full of various snack foods on the tiny table in the corner.

“To me,” Cass amended. “I hope, anyway.”

Steph couldn’t hold her gaze, because she didn’t want Cass to see the truth in her own. Ironic, really. “I thought there’d be, like, mould everywhere. Gross bedsheets. Weird stains on the floor. Worse lighting, but this place is better than half the safehouses Jason keeps— _fuck—”_

There was an antique ceramic doll sitting on the shelf in the bathroom, tucked away in a corner with her fake-probably-real hair in perfect blonde curls. Her eyes stared emptily at Steph as Steph backed out.

“You don’t like dolls?” Cass asked.

“I don’t particularly care either way,” Steph said, “but I don’t appreciate antique dolls in bathrooms in freaky empty motels in the middle of nowhere while there’s a downpour. It’s the perfect horror movie set-up.”

“It’s only one night,” Cass said, voice much too calm. “We’ll leave when we’ve slept and showered.”

“I know.” With that, Steph bounced back into the main room, trying not to look at the lone bed that they would be sharing. “C’mon, I haven’t watched TV in, like…”

“Three days?”

“Do diner TVs count?”

“Yes.”

“Then zero days.”

Steph had taken enough psychology classes to know that her emphasis on the motel appearance was probably in order to ignore the rising panic at the thought of sharing a bed with Cass. She had no idea what it was about this place, about this trip, that made everything feel _new_ and _raw_. They’d shared plenty of beds. Hell, she’d probably seen the entirety of Cass’ naked body on more than one occasion; she’d seen her friend early in the morning before she’d properly woken, and she’d seen her almost dropping from tiredness after days of no sleep. There was very little of consequence that she didn’t know about Cass. And yet, there was.

When Cass had yawned one time too many, Steph sighed.

“Turn in?” she said, already heading over to her duffle bag to grab pyjamas.

“Might as well. There’s nothing good on,” Cass said. “We can get an early start tomorrow.”

They took their turns in the bathroom, Steph responding to a few texts here and there, scrolling through social media as she waited. The motel room was dimly lit through only the lamp beside Steph and the outline of light coming from the bathroom door. There was no sound now – even the rain had ceased for the moment – so Steph could hear the exact moment Cass turned off the tap.

“You’re going to overheat in that,” Cass commented, nodding her head at Steph’s hooded jacket.

“I’ll take it off if I do.” Steph knew she probably wouldn’t, and judging by Cass’ smirk she probably did, too, but Cass didn’t push the matter.

She slid in on her side, and Steph turned off the lamp. The bed that had felt so small when they’d been channel surfing had become positively massive, an expansive sea between the two of them. Steph didn’t know how to bridge the distance, and she didn’t know how to ask Cass to.

Was it awkward to sleep facing together? Maybe the real issue was that there was no life-threatening event happening; near death experiences and exhaustion from blood loss and fighting always seemed to cut through any discomfort.

“You’re staring,” Cass said. It wasn’t a question, but her tone lilted upwards at the end.

“It’s hard _not_ to stare,” Steph responded.

Cass was chewing on her lip, the most visibly unsure that Steph had ever seen her. She realised, with a distant sort of horror, that Cass, with all her knowledge of body language, would’ve known the exact moment that Steph’s friendship with her had become one-sided longing.

“Because you’re facing me and we’re lying down?” she asked finally.

Steph, despite herself, despite everything, snorted, a rueful smile on her face. “Because it’s _you_ ,” she said. Something about the cover of the dark made it easier to verbalise things that Steph barely ever admitted to herself.

There was a shuffle as Cass flicked on the lamp on her side, and in the blink of an eye one of her hands was cradling Steph’s cheek and her mouth was on Steph’s. Steph let out a muffled squeak in surprise, jumping a little, but before Cass could retreat, her own hands fought their way out from under the sheets to hold Cass in place.

Her hand found its way to Cass’ hair, the sleek strands she’d spent so much time trying not to look at, lest they give her away, and found that they were just as they’d always felt when she’d been braiding her friend’s hair.

* * *

Steph woke first, which wasn’t rare, but she appreciated the time it gave her to lie there for a moment of privacy. This trip was many things, but it wasn’t private, and Steph wouldn’t have it any other way, but she hadn’t prepared mentally for the previous night in the slightest. Her nerves still tingled at the thought.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, where she’d placed it to charge. Peering at it, she stretched with a groan.

Technically, they were meant to go and watch the sun rising, but absolutely no bone in Steph’s body wanted to leave this bed. Cass was still fast asleep beside her, hair spread on her pillow in wild disarray and mouth slightly open. Her breathing was coming in slight rasps, and Steph knew that kissing her would definitely taste like morning breath.

She settled back down beside Cass.

There would be other sunrises.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!! Let me know what you think ^~^
> 
> My card is in the series description, and I'm always up for a chat on [tumblr](https://fanfictiongreenirises.tumblr.com/)


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